Smart net for use in sports training

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are devices, systems, and methods for training a player to hit a ball at a target, an exemplary net for use in such a system includes one or more display elements configured to display a target towards which the player should hit the ball, and one or more sensors configured to detect an impact between the ball and the net, and determine whether the detected impact between the ball and the net is at the target.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to commonly-owned co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. ______, (Attorney Docket No. 2166-6),entitled “DETECTING AND ASSESSING VIBRATIONS CAUSED BY SPORTINGEQUIPMENT”, Ser. No. ______, (Attorney Docket No. 2166-7), entitled“DEVICE FOR DETECTING AND ASSESSING VIBRATIONS CAUSED BY SPORTINGEQUIPMENT”, Ser. No. ______, (Attorney Docket No. 2166-8, entitled“SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND METHODS FOR VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY SPORTSTRAINING”, and Ser. No. ______, (Attorney Docket No. 2166-13), entitled“VIRTUAL SMART NET FOR USE IN SPORTS TRAINING”, all filed on ______ bySalvatore LoDuca, the entire contents of each of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to sports training, and particularly tothe use of sensors and virtual and/or augmented reality technologies totrain athletes and players to improve coordination, timing, and/orskill.

Description of Related Art

Various sporting activities, such as baseball, softball, golf, tennis,hockey, etc., involve a player holding a sporting implement, such as abat, club, racket, or stick, and moving, such as by a swinging motion,the sporting implement to make contact with a ball, puck, or the like.The player's skill may be judged based on his or her ability to swingthe sporting implement in such a way as to make contact with anapproaching ball, puck, or the like such that the ball, puck, or thelike is hit in a desired direction and at a desired speed.

For example, in the sports of baseball and softball, a batter's skillmay be judged by the batter's ability to hit a ball in a desireddirection, angle, and/or speed. When the point of impact between theball and a baseball bat is at, or close to, the center of the bat, thehit may be called a “clean hit.” A clean hit may send the ball at thegreatest speed and allow the batter to best direct the ball in thedesired direction. Training a batter to be able to make a clean hit ishard. The batter may be able to generally determine whether a particularhit was good or not by looking at the direction and speed the balltravels after making contact with the bat. However, the batter will notbe able to determine whether the hit was a clean hit, or how close thepoint of impact between the ball and the bat was to the center of thebat merely by looking at the result of the hit.

SUMMARY

Provided in accordance with the present disclosure is a net for traininga player to hit a ball at a target. In an aspect of the presentdisclosure, the net includes one or more display elements configured todisplay a target towards which the player should hit the ball, and oneor more sensors configured to detect an impact between the ball and thenet, and determine whether the detected impact between the ball and thenet is at the target.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the display elements arefurther configured to display an indication of whether the impactbetween the ball and the net is at the target based on thedetermination.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the display elementsare further configured to display an indication of where the detectedimpact between the ball and the net occurred.

Provided in accordance with the present disclosure is a system fortraining a player to hit a ball at a target using a net. In an aspect ofthe present disclosure, the system includes a net including one or moredisplay elements configured to display a target towards which the playershould hit the ball, and one or more sensors configured to detect animpact between the ball and the net, and determine whether the detectedimpact between the ball and the net is at the target, and a glove wornby a player, the glove including a sensor configured to detectvibrations caused by an impact between a bat and the real ball, anddetermine whether a level of the vibrations is within a predeterminedrange, and a speaker within audible range of the player, the speakerconfigured to emit an audible tone in response to receiving a signalfrom the sensor indicating that the level of the vibrations is withinthe predetermined range.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the display elements arefurther configured to display an indication of whether the impactbetween the ball and the net is at the target based on thedetermination.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the display elementsare further configured to display an indication of where the detectedimpact between the ball and the net occurred.

In still another aspect of the present disclosure, the one or moresensors are further configured to send data regarding the impact betweenthe ball and the net, to a computing device, and the computing device isconfigured to analyze the data received from the one or more sensors todetermine whether the impact between the ball and the net is at thetarget.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the speaker is furtherconfigured to emit an audible tone when it is determined that the realball is hit at the target.

Provided in accordance with the present disclosure is a method oftraining a player to hit a ball at a target using a net. In an aspect ofthe present disclosure, the method includes displaying, on a net, atarget towards which the player should hit the ball, detecting, by oneor more sensors in the net, an impact between the ball and the net,determining whether the impact between the ball and the net is at thetarget, and providing an indication of whether the impact between theball and the net is at the target.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the method further includessending, by the one or more sensors in the net, data regarding theimpact between the ball and the net, to a computing device, andanalyzing, by the computing device, the data received from the one ormore sensors to determine whether the impact between the ball and thenet is at the target.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the indication ofwhether the ball is hit at the target is provided as an audible toneemitted by a speaker.

Any of the above aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure maybe combined without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects and features of the present disclosure are describedhereinbelow with references to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for using virtual or augmentedreality in sports training, provided in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a computing device forming partof the system of FIG. 1, provided in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure; and

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method ofusing virtual and/or augmented reality in sports training, provided inaccordance with and embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed to devices, systems, and methods forsports training using various sensors and virtual and/or augmentedreality technologies to train athletes and players to improvecoordination, timing, and/or skill. More particularly, the disclosurerelates to using various sensors and virtual and/or augmented realityvisuals to create an immersive training environment for the player to beused in conjunction with the detection of vibrations and/or impacts byone or more sensors to determine whether an impact between sportingequipment and a ball resulted in a clean hit, and thereby providing anindication to the player as to whether the hit was a clean hit. Thedisclosure further provides for devices, systems, and methods fortraining the player to hit different types of pitches as well as directthe ball in a particular direction and/or toward a particular target.Thus, the disclosure describes methods for training a player to improvetiming based on repetition and randomization to thereby improve musclememory for reacting to different types of pitches, different speeds ofpitches, different ball positions, etc.

As described in detail below, one or more sensors may be included in aglove to be worn by a player holding a bat, club, racket, or stick, anddetect vibrations in the bat, club, racket, or stick caused by theimpact with a ball, puck, or the like, as well as a swing path and/orswing angle of the bat, club, racket, or stick. Additionally oralternatively, the one or more sensors may also be attached to the bat,club, racket, or stick, such as by a ring, patch, sticker, etc., and/orembedded in the bat, club, racket, or stick, or included in a wristband,smartwatch, or other device attached to the player's body. The one ormore sensors may be paired with an earpiece, also worn by the player,which emits an audible tone upon detection of a clean hit to indicate tothe player that a hit was a clean hit. The virtual and/or augmentedreality visuals may be displayed to the player via a virtual and/oraugmented reality device, such as a headset or other head-mounted gear,worn by the player. The virtual and/or augmented reality visuals maydisplay various types of pitches, speeds of pitches, ball positions,etc., to the player to hit the ball, as well as a direction and/ortarget toward which to hit the ball. One or more sensors may beconnected to and/or embedded in a net positioned to catch the ball afterbeing hit by the player. The sensors may detect a position and/or areaat which the ball impacts the net.

As used herein, the term clean hit refers to a hit wherein there isclean contact between the center of the ball and the barrel of the bat,resulting in the majority of the energy from the impact between the batand the ball being transferred to the ball to direct the ball in adesired direction. While making clean contact with the ball is importantfor attaining a clean hit, the path and/or angle at which the bat isswung by the player, as well as the timing and the point of contact withthe ball are equally important for making a clean hit and directing theball in a desired direction.

As noted above, and as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art,the systems, devices, and methods of the present disclosure may be usedin various sports, including baseball, softball, golf, tennis,racquetball, hockey, and/or cricket, among others. However, for purposeof brevity, the present disclosure will use the sport of baseball as anexemplary embodiment. This is not intended to be limiting, as thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the same or similar systems,devices, and methods may be used in other sports as well, including butnot limited to the sports named above.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a diagram of a system 100 forfacilitating sports training using various sensors and virtual and/oraugmented reality technologies, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art,the various components of system 100 shown in FIG. 1 are not drawn toscale. System 100 includes a bat 110 held by a player wearing a glove120. Bat 110 has connected thereto a ring 122 including one or moresensors 125 for detecting vibrations caused by bat 110 making contactwith a ball 115. Alternatively or additionally, bat 110 may haveembedded therein one or more sensors 125 (not shown). Similarly, glove120 includes one or more sensors 125. Ball 115 may be held in place by atee, such as a robotic tee 105, until the player hits ball 115. Robotictee 105 may be any robotic tee known to those skilled in the art,including a single axis robotic tee and/or a multi-axis robotic tee. Forexample, robotic tee 105 may be capable of full randomization, that is,robotic tee 105 may place ball 115 in a fully randomized location withinthe three dimensions of the player's strike zone for every hit, therebyrequiring the player to prepare and adjust position for every hit.

The player may wear an earpiece 130 paired with sensor 125 andconfigured to emit an audible tone when a hit is detected. The playermay further wear a display device 150, such as a virtual and/oraugmented reality headset, e.g. the RIFT® device marketed by OCULUS®,the HOLOLENS® device marketed by MICROSOFT®, the GLASS® device marketedby GOOGLE®, the PLAYSTATION® VR® device marketed by SONY®, the GEAR VR®device marketed by SAMSUNG®, and/or any other suitable virtual and/oraugmented reality device known to those skilled in the art. System 100further includes a net 160 equipped with a plurality of sensors 125 fordetecting an impact between ball 115 and net 160. Sensors 125 in net 160may be positioned such that net 160 is divided into various zones whichcan be selectively used as a target 165. Net 160 may further include oneor more display elements (not shown) such as light-emitting diode (LED)and/or fiber optic lights configured to light up to indicate theposition of target 165 on net 160. A computing device 140, including anapplication 145, may also be paired with sensors 125 in bat 110, glove120, ring 122, and/or net 160, as well as earpiece 130 and/or displaydevice 150, and may provide further data, analytics, and statisticsabout the impacts between bat 110 and ball 115, and between ball 115 andnet 160, and may be used to configure and/or operate sensors 125,earpiece 130, display device 150, and/or net 160.

Sensor 125 may be a displacement sensor, velocity sensor, accelerometer,and/or other sensors capable of detecting motion, impacts, and/orvibrations known to those skilled in the art. Sensor 125 may include orbe connected to a logic circuit (not shown) configured to analyze theimpacts and/or vibrations detected by sensor 125 and, if the vibrationsdetected by sensor 125 exceeds a predetermined value, send a signal toearpiece 130 to emit the audible tone. Sensor 125 may further detect aswing path and/or swing angle of bat 110. Sensors 125 in net 160 maysimilarly detect where on net 160 an impact with ball 115 has occurred.The logic circuit may include a processor and a memory. Sensor 125 mayfurther include or be connected to a connection interface, such as aBLUETOOTH® interface, wireless network interface, cellular networkinterface, near field communications (NFC) interface, and/or any otherapplicable connection interface known to those skilled in the art.Sensor 125 may, via the connection interface, connect to, or be pairedwith, earpiece 130, computing device 140, and/or display device 150, andmay send the signal to earpiece 130 via a connection established via theconnection interface.

Earpiece 130 may be any audio output device capable of connecting toand/or receiving a signal from sensor 125 to emit the audible tone. Forexample, earpiece 130 may be an in-ear wearable device including aspeaker. In some embodiments, earpiece 130 may instead be a wearablespeaker, such as a speaker attached to a clip, band, and/or string,which may be attached to clothing worn by the player, attached directlyto the player′ body, or attached to or embedded in glove 120. In otherembodiments, earpiece 130 may not be wearable but instead be a speakerdesigned to be positioned near the player. In still further embodiments,earpiece 130 may be integrated with computing device 140 and/or displaydevice 150 such that a speaker of computing device 140 and/or displaydevice 150 is used to emit the audible tone when the signal from sensor125 is received.

Computing device 140 may be any computing device capable of connectingto and/or receiving data from sensor 125 and executing and displayingapplication 145. For example, computing device 140 may be a smartphone,tablet computer, laptop computer, desktop computer, wearable computingdevice such as a smartwatch, and/or any other applicable computingdevice known to those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, computingdevice 140 and display device 150 may be a single, integrated device.Computing device 140 receives data from sensor 125 regarding thevibrations detected by sensor 125 and, via application 145, analyzes thereceived data to compile analytics and statistics regarding the impactsbetween bat 110 and ball 115. For example, application 145 may determinea score for each hit based on a level of vibration detected by sensor125. A clean hit will result in very low vibrations, and may be given ahigh score. A hit resulting in very high vibrations, will not be a cleanhit and may be given a low score. Thus, as described further below, inan embodiment where the system operates in a binary mode, that is,either a clean hit or not a clean hit, a clean hit may result in anaudible tone being emitted by earpiece 130, and a hit that is not aclean hit results in no tone being emitted by earpiece 130. In otherembodiments, hits resulting in vibrations within multiple intervalsbetween the high and low levels of vibrations may be given intermediatescores based on their level of vibrations, and may result in variousaudible tones being emitted by earpiece 130 depending on the scoreand/or detected levels of vibrations.

Application 145 may further analyze data received from sensor 125 todetermine a swing path, swing angle, and/or swing velocity of bat 110,and the timing of the impact between bat 110 and ball 115. Application145 may then generate guidance and/or instructions for makingadjustments to improve the player's hitting pattern and/or style basedon the data, analytics, and/or statistics. The guidance may be furtherbe based on delta values relating to changes in the player'sperformance.

As noted above, display device 150 may be any virtual and/or augmentedreality display device known to those skilled in the art. In theexemplary embodiments described below, display device 150 is ahead-mounted display device 150, but such description and disclosure isnot intended to be limiting. Display device 150 may include one or morecameras and/or other optical sensors to scan and/or capture images ofthe area around the player and detect objects in the area around theplayer, as described further below. Display device 150 includes at leastone processor and memory to process and store the images captured by theone or more cameras and generate virtual and/or augmented reality imagesto be displayed on a screen, and/or one or more speakers to outputaudio.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the level ofvibrations may differ between various bats based on the size, shape,type of material, and/or method of construction of the bat. Thus, sensor125 may be pre-programmed based on levels of vibrations known to becaused by a particular type of bat. Alternatively, or in addition,sensor 125 may be configured to “learn” levels of vibrations of a batduring use of system 100. For example, sensor 125 may be calibratedbefore use with a particular bat and/or may manually or automaticallyadjust thresholds and/or ranges of levels of vibrations, whether binaryor multiple, based on levels of vibrations detected during use. Thus,thresholds for the various levels of vibrations may be preset and/orcalibrated during use of sensor 125. For example, application 145 may beused to configure and/or calibrate sensor 125.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a simplified block diagram ofcomputing device 140, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As noted above, computing device 140 may be one or more ofvarious computing devices known to those skilled in the art, and thecomponents described below are merely for illustrative purposes and notintended to be limiting.

Computing device 140 may include a memory 202, a processor 204, adisplay 206, a connection interface 208, an input device 210, and/or aspeaker 212. Memory 202 may store application 145 and/or a database 214.Application 145 may, when executed by processor 204, cause display 206to display user interface 216. Connection interface 208 may be aBLUETOOTH® interface, a wireless networking interface, a cellularnetworking interface, an NFC interface, and/or any other applicableconnection interface known to those skilled in the art. Computing device140 may connect to sensor 125, earpiece 130, and/or display device 150via a connection established by connection interface 208. Computingdevice 140 may store data received from sensor 125 in database 214. Thedata may include the level of vibration detected for each hit, and/orwhether the level of vibration exceeded a threshold to cause sensor 125to send the signal to earpiece 130 to emit the audible tone. The datamay further include data regarding swing paths, swing angles, swingspeed, and/or timing of impacts between bat 110 and ball 115.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, there is shown a flowchart of anexemplary method for facilitating sports training using various sensorsand virtual and/or augmented reality technologies, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Various steps of the method aredescribed below in an example sequence allowing system 100 of FIG. 1 tobe used during batting practice for the sports of baseball and/orsoftball. However, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art,the same or similar steps may be performed for using systems and devicessimilar to those of FIG. 1 in various other sports. Further, varioussteps of the method may be performed concurrently and/or in a differentsequence than that described below, or may be omitted, without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

The method may begin at step 302, where the position of a real ball,such as ball 115, is detected. The ball 115 may be held in place by atee, such as robotic tee 105. The detection may be performed by avirtual and/or augmented reality headset, such as display device 150.For example, as noted above, display device 150 may include one or morecameras configured to detect objects, such as ball 115, in the areaaround the player. In embodiments where robotic tee 105 is used, theposition of ball 115 may change for each pitch. Robotic tee 105 may alsobe linked to display device 150 such as to determine a position for ball115 in relation to the player.

Next, at step 304, a trajectory for a virtual ball is determined suchthat the trajectory intersects with the detected position of ball 115.For example, display device 150 may display images to the player of avirtual pitcher pitching a virtual ball to the player. The trajectory ofthe virtual ball will intersect with the detected position of ball 115such that the player may hit ball 115 when the virtual ball intersectswith the position of ball 115. To accomplish this, display device 150determines a trajectory for the virtual ball from the virtual pitcher tothe detected position of ball 115. A predetermined and/or randomizedvirtual pitch may be selected by display device 150 to be displayed tothe player based on the determined trajectory of the virtual ball. Forexample, various virtual pitches may be stored in database 214. Thevirtual pitches may be based on various types of pitches, speeds ofpitches, etc. The virtual pitches may be performed by left-handed and/orright-handed virtual pitchers, as displayed by display device 150. Byselecting a randomized virtual pitch for each pitch displayed to theplayer, the player may be trained to be prepared for full randomization.

In an embodiment where display device 150 is a virtual reality device,display device 150 may display images of a real-world location to theplayer to create an immersive experience. For example, the images of thereal-world location may include images of a baseball stadium, a battingpractice facility, and/or any other real-world location selected by theplayer. In another embodiment where display device 150 is an augmentedreality device, display device 150 may simply display images of thevirtual pitcher and the virtual ball, and the player may still be ableto see ball 115 concurrently with the virtual ball.

Thereafter, at step 306, display device 150 displays the virtual pitchof the virtual ball along the trajectory determined at step 304, suchthat the virtual ball intersects with the detected position of ball 115.At step 308, a target is displayed towards which the player shouldattempt to hit ball 115. For example, display device 150 may display atarget to the player in addition to, or overlaid onto, the images of thevirtual pitcher and the virtual pitch of the virtual ball.Alternatively, or in addition, net 160 may display a target to theplayer by illuminating target zone 165. Thus, in an augmented realityembodiment, the player will be able to see target zone 165 light up onnet 160. In some embodiments, the target is displayed before the virtualpitch of the virtual ball is displayed. In other embodiments, the targetis displayed concurrently with the virtual pitch of the virtual ball.

When the virtual ball intersects with the position of ball 115, theplayer may hit ball 115 with bat 110 causing an impact between bat 110and ball 115. The timing of the hit may be determined based on adifference in time between when the virtual ball intersects with ball115, and when bat 110 makes contact with ball 115. Thereafter, at step310, one or more sensors, such as sensor 125, detect vibrations causedby an impact between bat 110 and ball 115. The vibrations may be invarious detectable frequencies, ranging from low frequencies to highfrequencies, and may vary depending on the type of bat being used, asdescribed above. In some embodiments, vibrations determined to be infrequencies outside of predefined ranges may be determined to be causedby impacts other than between bat 110 and ball 115, and may therefore bedisregarded. Further, sensor 125 and/or application 145 may beconfigured to analyze the detected frequencies for abnormalities and,based on detected abnormalities, may determine that the detectedfrequencies indicate that the batter is using bat 110 incorrectly and/orthat bat 110 may be damaged. Application 145 may then indicate to theplayer that the player is using bat 110 incorrectly and/or that bat 110may be damaged. Application 145 may also recalibrate sensor 125 based onthe detected abnormalities.

At step 312, it is determined whether the level of vibrations is withina first range of frequencies. The determination may be based on anassessment of the level of vibrations detected by sensor 125. The firstrange of frequencies may be a relatively low range of frequencies whichresembles a clean hit, because during a clean hit there is clean contactbetween the center of the ball and the barrel of the bat, resulting inthe majority of energy from the impact between bat 110 and ball 115being transferred to the ball and thereby directing the ball into itsnew trajectory. The determination may be made by sensor 125 via thelogic circuit connected to or included in sensor 125. Alternatively,sensor 125, after detecting the vibrations, may send a data packetincluding data regarding the detected level of vibrations to computingdevice 140, and application 145 may perform the determination whetherthe level of vibrations is within the first range.

If it is determined that the level of vibrations is within the firstrange, the method proceeds to step 316. However, if it is determinedthat the level of vibrations is not within the first range, the methodproceeds to step 314. At step 314, it is determined whether the level ofvibrations is within a second range of frequencies. The second range offrequencies may be relatively higher than the first range offrequencies, a higher frequency being indicative of a non-clean (andpotentially poor) hit, because less energy from the impact between bat110 and ball 115 is transferred to the ball and is instead released asvibrations in bat 110. As with step 312, the determination may be madeby sensor 125 via the logic circuit connected to or included in sensor125, or by application 145 after sensor 125 sends a data packetincluding data regarding the detected level of vibrations to computingdevice 140. If it is determined that the level of vibrations is withinthe second range, the method proceeds to step 318. However, if it isdetermined that the level of vibrations is not within the second range,the method returns to step 310.

At step 316, a signal is sent to earpiece 130 to emit a first audibletone. As noted above, earpiece 130 may be included in display device150. The first audible tone may represent a clean hit, and the batter,upon hearing the first audible tone, may be informed that the hit justperformed was a clean hit. The signal may be sent from sensor 125 ifsensor 125 performs the determination whether the detected level ofvibrations is within the first range of frequencies. Alternatively, ifapplication 145 performs the determination whether the detected level ofvibrations is within the first range of frequencies, the signal may besent from computing device 140.

At step 318, a signal is sent to earpiece 130 to emit a second audibletone. The second audible tone may be one of various tones associatedwith various ranges of frequencies, as noted above regarding step 314.As with the signal sent at step 316, the signal to emit the secondaudible tone may be sent from sensor 125 if sensor 125 performs thedetermination whether the detected level of vibrations is within thesecond range of frequencies. Alternatively, if application 145 performsthe determination whether the detected level of vibrations is within thesecond range of frequencies, the signal may be sent from computingdevice 140.

At step 320, earpiece 130, upon receiving the signal sent at either step316 or step 318, emits the first or second audible tone corresponding tothe signal. Upon hearing the audible tone, the player may be informedwhether the hit just performed resulted in good contact with the bat,resulting in a low level of vibrations, or various other levels ofcontact with the bat, resulting in higher levels of vibrations. Displaydevice 150 may also display a visual indication of whether or not theplayer hit a clean hit. By emitting the audible tone, the player mayreceive confirmation that the hit was a clean hit by three senses—visualby seeing the result of the hit, tactile by feeling the vibrations inbat 110, and auditory by hearing the audible tone. Receivingconfirmation via multiple senses may improve the training of theplayer's brain to know what is a clean hit because the player is givenfeedback via multiple different senses.

At step 322, sensor 125 sends data regarding the detected level ofvibrations to computing device 140. As noted above, if sensor 125 doesnot perform the determinations of step 312 and/or step 314, the dataregarding the detected level of vibrations will be sent to computingdevice 140 before step 312 and step 314 is performed. After receivingthe data regarding the detected level of vibrations, application 145, atstep 324, may analyze the received data and compile analytics andstatistics regarding the detected impact and level of vibrations.Computing device 140 may also store the received data and the compiledanalytics and statistics in database 214. Display device 150 may displaythe analytics and statistics.

Application 145 may further, at step 326, determine a score based on thereceived data and/or the compiled analytics and statistics. The scoremay be an indication of how good or bad the hit was, as represented bylevel of vibrations detected by sensor 125. For example, if the level ofvibrations is within the first range of frequencies, which represents aclean hit, application 145 may determine a good score. If the level ofvibrations is within the second range of frequencies, application 145may determine a lower score, based on the various ranges of frequenciesnoted above. Computing device 140 may also store the score in database214. Display device 150 may also display the score. Application 145 mayfurther determine guidance and/or instructions for making adjustments toimprove the player's hitting pattern and/or style based on the data,analytics, and/or statistics. The guidance may be further be based ondelta values relating to changes in the player's performance. Forexample, application 145 may compare the data regarding one hit and itsassociated swing path, swing angle, and/or timing with similar dataregarding another hit, and determine delta values based on differencesbetween the data from the two hits. Application 145 may then generateguidance indicating adjustments the player may make to improve theplayer's swing style and/or timing based on the delta values. Theguidance may further be stored by computing device 140 in database 214.

At step 328, computing device 140, via user interface 216 of application145, may display the analytics and statistics compiled at step 324, thescore determined at step 326, and/or the guidance. In some embodiments,the analytics, statistics, score, and/or guidance are displayed viadisplay device 150.

Following step 310, and concurrently with steps 312-322, an impactbetween ball 115 and net 160 may be detected at step 330. For example,sensors 125 in net 160 may detect an impact, such as from force and/ordisplacement, with net 160. Alternatively or additionally, displaydevice 150 may track ball 115 after ball 115 is hit by bat 110 to detectif and where ball 115 impacts net 160.

Thereafter, at step 332, sensor 125 in net 160 may send a data packetincluding data regarding the detected impact to computing device 140.Logic associated with sensor 125, application 145, and/or display device150 may then, at step 334, determine where on net 160 the impactoccurred, and whether the impact between ball 115 and net 160 was attarget 165. Net 160 and/or display device 150 may then display, at step336, an indication of where on net 160 the impact occurred and whetherthe impact was at target 165. Additionally, earpiece 130 may emit anaudible tone indicating whether the impact between ball 115 and net 160is at target 165.

Computing device 140 may receive data regarding the impact between ball115 and net 160 at step 332. Thus, application 145 may further use suchdata at step 324 and step 326 to compile analytics, statistics, and/orthe score.

Among the benefits of the present disclosure are the ability to providefully randomized training in an immersive environment, thereby allowingthe player to practice a variety of different hits and preparedness fora variety of different pitches, as well as training the player to adjustfor every possibility and attempt to hit at targets. The effects ofrandomization and bilateral and/or contralateral training providesvastly improved results over uniform, repetitive, unilateral training.For example, the player may gain increased knowledge of the strike zoneand ability to prepare for pitches in any position within the strikezone, while also learning proper contact, form, swing path, and/or swingangle for hitting a variety of types of pitches.

The above-described system 100 may be used in various differentsettings, and not all described components of system 100 need be used ineach embodiment. For example, the player may use system 100 inconjunction with robotic tee 105, or with a non-robotic tee. That is,robotic tee 105 is an optional component of system 100 and need not beincluded in every setting where system 100 is used. Likewise, net 160 isan optional component of system 100, and as described above, thedisplaying of target 165 and detection of whether ball 115 is hit in theright direction to intersect with target 165 may be performed usingdisplay device 150 instead of or in addition to sensors 125 in net 160.Further information on the construction and operation of robotic tee 105may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,425,352, entitled “Mechanical baseballtee”, filed on Sep. 29, 2011, by LoDuca et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,033,828,entitled “Mechanical baseball tee”, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, by LoDuca etal., and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/244,057, entitled “ROBOTICBATTING TEE SYSTEM”, filed on Aug. 23, 2016, by LoDuca et al., theentire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.Further, while using a robotic tee 105 is described above as a preferredembodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that a stationarytee may also be used in some embodiments of system 100.

While several embodiments of the disclosure have been shown in thedrawings, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereto, asit is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope as the art willallow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the abovedescription should not be construed as limiting, but merely asexemplifications of particular embodiments. Those skilled in the artwill envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of theclaims appended hereto.

1. A net for training a player to hit a ball at a target, the netcomprising: a net having disposed thereon: one or more display elementsdisposed at predetermined positions along the net, the display elementsconfigured to display a target at a predetermined location on the net;and one or more sensors disposed at predetermined positions along thenet, the one or more sensors configured to: detect an impact between theball and the net at an impact location; and determine whether thedetected impact location corresponds to the predetermined location ofthe target.
 2. The net according to claim 1, wherein the displayelements are further configured to display an indication of whether theimpact between the ball and the net is at the target based on thedetermination.
 3. The net according to claim 1, wherein the displayelements are further configured to display an indication of where thedetected impact between the ball and the net occurred.
 4. A system fortraining a player to hit a ball at a target using a net, the systemcomprising: a net having disposed thereon: one or more display elementsdisposed at predetermined positions along the net, the display elementsconfigured to display a target at a predetermined location along thenet; and one or more sensors disposed at predetermined positions alongthe net, the one or more sensors configured to: detect an impact betweenthe ball and the net at an impact location; and determine whether thedetected impact location corresponds to the predetermined location ofthe target; a glove configured to be worn by a player, the gloveincluding a sensor disposed thereon configured to: detect vibrationscaused by an impact between a sporting implement and the ball; anddetermine whether a level of the vibrations is within a predeterminedrange; and a speaker positioned within audible range of the player, thespeaker configured to emit an audible tone in response to receiving asignal from the sensor disposed on the glove indicating that the levelof the vibrations is within the predetermined range
 5. The systemaccording to claim 4, wherein the display elements are furtherconfigured to display an indication of whether the impact between theball and the net is at the target based on the determination.
 6. Thesystem according to claim 4, wherein the display elements are furtherconfigured to display an indication of where the detected impact betweenthe ball and the net occurred.
 7. The system according to claim 4,wherein the one or more sensors are further configured to send dataregarding the impact between the ball and the net to a computing device;and wherein the computing device is configured to analyze the datareceived from the one or more sensors to determine whether the impactbetween the ball and the net is at the target.
 8. The system accordingto claim 4, wherein the speaker is further configured to emit an audibletone when it is determined that the impact between the ball and the netis at the target.
 9. A method of training a player to hit a ball at atarget using a net, the method comprising: displaying, via a pluralityof display elements disposed on a net, a target located at apredetermined location on the net; detecting, by one or more sensorsdisposed at predetermined positions along the net, an impact between theball and the net at an impact location; determining whether the impactlocation corresponds to the predetermined location of the target; andproviding an indication of whether the impact between the ball and thenet is at the target, wherein the predetermined location of the targetis associated with a subset of the display elements disposed along thenet.
 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: sending,by the one or more sensors in the net, data regarding the impact betweenthe ball and the net, to a computing device; and analyzing, by thecomputing device, the data received from the one or more sensors todetermine whether the impact between the ball and the net is at thetarget.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the providedindication is an audible tone emitted by a speaker.